Deposit P31 - J F Guthrie deposit 1

James Francis Guthrie was a stock-breeder, woolbroker and senator. He was born on 13 September 1872. Guthrie joined the Geelong branch of Dalgety & Co. Ltd in October 1891 as a junior clerk. Six years of branch experience were followed by about two years working in textile mills in England, at Bradford and elsewhere. He rejoined Dalgety's in 1900 as wool expert and traveller at Geelong, valuing for the company's New Zealand sales as well. In the 1904-05 season he became head valuer for Australia, based in Melbourne. He was a director of the family company, Thomas Guthrie & Sons Pastoral Co Ltd, formed in 1906 to operate his father's stations and in 1910-21 was managing director of Avon Downs Pastoral Co Ltd which bought one of them, Avon Downs station, in the Northern Territory. In 1912 he established a Corriedale stud on portions of Borambola and Book Book stations (renamed Corriedale Park and Colongolong) near Wagga, New South Wales. Guthrie founded the Australian Corriedale Sheep Breeders' Association in 1914. In 1915 he was Geelong manager for Dalgety & Co, a member of the Victorian State Wool Committee and Chairman of the Wool Export Advisory Committee. He had an interest in numerous properties until the 1950s but concentrated his Corriedale and thoroughbred horse studs at Bulgandra near Albury, New South Wales (1923-50), and Elcho and Coolangatta near Geelong (1926-52). In 1927 he sketched the history of Australian sheep and wool to the (Royal) Historical Society of Victoria and again in the official publication commemorating the Victorian centenary in 1934. The culmination of his research was "A World History of Sheep and Wool" published privately in 1957. Guthrie was elected to the Senate in 1919 and served from 1july 1920 to 30 June 1938. He became the first Federal Government representative on the Australian Wool Board. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1946. Guthrie died on 18 August 1958.